Engineering Management Institute

Gina Covarrubias

Steer Your Way Toward a Sustainable Engineering Career

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This is a guest blog by Gina Covarrubias

Sustainable Engineering CareerCareers can last a lifetime. Have you thought about how to sustain your long-term engineering career? Here are three ships you can sail to generate and maintain sustainability in your own career: Ownership, Leadership, and Mentorship.

1. Ownership

It may sound basic on the surface. However, taking ownership of your duties is a fundamental employee activity that could easily fall to the wayside.

Performing tasks and duties is one thing; owning them is another. According to Merriam-Webster’s definition of “own,” it means “to keep, control, or experience as one’s own.” Think of owning a car or a house, wherein you’ve been provided a baseline from which to craft your own creation.

Compare this to your job — you’ve been provided an opportunity to craft a role into a creative function of you.

Owning your role includes:

  • Speaking up and speaking out on matters that are relevant to your job objectives
  • Admitting mistakes and failures as well as successes
  • Making decisions without complete information at hand
  • Backing yourself up with belief in your work if others question your methods
  • Inserting your personal uniqueness into everyday efforts

By commanding ownership of your role, you can elevate your perspective, approach, and the way you operate, taking your career to the next level.

This is one way to sustain your career regardless of experience.

2. Leadership

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Ready to Become an Engineering Pioneer? Try These Starter Tips

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This is a guest blog by Gina Covarrubias

trailblazerWhether fresh out of school or experienced engineer, it’s never too soon to forge a trailblazer career journey. Avoid the active bystander status and start pioneering your own trail today!

Embrace Ownership Over Your Role, Including Successes and Failures

One way you can become your own career trailblazer is to take full ownership of your job. Sounds quite basic, right? But let’s dissect this for fuller context.

It’s one thing to tell people, “I am a such-and-such engineer,” referring to your title. That’s a great start! But in your day-to-day routine as that engineer, do you:

  • Exert your best efforts regardless of the task? (Let’s face it, sometimes it’s difficult for engineers to get excited about necessities like report writing or answering the phone.)
  • Make concerted efforts to optimize all resources at your disposal? Examples include reaching out to more experienced colleagues, asking questions, volunteering, researching topics, diving into archives, inquiring about lessons learned, introducing yourself as you initiate conversations, etc.
  • Own up to both successes and failures? While it can be fun to share ingenuity or great results, can you be just as honest about failed attempts? Trying and failing is an essential component to take yourself to the next level.

These are just a few ways you can claim more ownership over your role. Regardless of job outcomes, owning your role is about looking back and saying, “I did my best with the resources I had.” No one can fault you for that.

Increasing job ownership raises your value and translates to higher quality work — practical features for any trailblazer!

Offer the Traits You Wish Your Manager Had

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Mastering Career Balance: A Blueprint for Engineers

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This is a guest blog by Gina Covarrubias

Career BalanceAn unbalanced engineering career can materialize in several ways, and none of us are immune. Whether we experience too much overwhelm or not enough motivation, here are a few ways we can preserve more career balance.

Adjust Your Extrinsic vs. Intrinsic Motivations

We have many motivations for working, which is a great thing! On a high level, we can categorize these motivations as extrinsic and intrinsic.

Extrinsic motivations are driven by things outside of yourself. For example, most of us are motivated to work for money and benefits. Sometimes we’re motivated by new titles or additional respect. These are examples of behaviors fueled by external paybacks or rewards.

It’s a wonderful system; we love getting paid to perform meaningful work that serves the world.

However, there is a danger of implementing too many extrinsic motivations. They can only carry a career so far because emphasis on external paybacks and rewards dismisses its complement—internal paybacks and rewards. How do we generate internal paybacks and rewards? By creating intrinsic motivations.

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Networking Tips for the Apprehensive Engineer

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This is a guest blog by Gina Covarrubias

networkingNetworking can serve as a powerful tool to expand your professional portfolio. Some engineers would rather do anything but. However, networking doesn’t have to be so scary or burdensome!

Do You Avoid Large-Scale Networking?

I confess. As an introvert who feels overstimulated in large crowds, I dread the “typical” networking scenario of making small chit-chat with strangers. It can feel so awkward and overbearing. Maybe this sounds familiar to you, or maybe you’re perfectly content with large-scale networking. Either way, I have great news — networking occurs in multiple forms and modes that can fit your personality!

Networking doesn’t have to be about making small talk with groups of strangers. Nor is it about approaching intimidating people who carry an intense presence.

Sometimes engineers and other professionals avoid networking because:

  • It is too time-consuming
  • They don’t know what to say or feel out of place
  • They don’t realize the long-term benefits
  • They’re afraid of what others will think
  • They don’t know what networking looks like other than awkward attempts to connect with strangers

Networking spans way beyond forced conversations in a giant room of people. You’ve probably been networking in some fashion, and you don’t even know it!

Tips for Easy Networking

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The Dance Between Work and Life as an Engineer

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This is a guest blog by Gina Covarrubias

Work and Life

Image by Freepik

Are you caught up in a dance between committing to work and living your life as an engineer? An extreme focus in either direction could leave you jobless or lifeless. Read on if you want to improve your dance moves as an engineer!

Balance or Integration?

While some people like to speak of a work/life balance, others prefer work/life integration. What is the difference, and why is this worth addressing?

On the surface, they refer to the same idea — which is to overcommit to one area at the expense of the other.

The phrase work/life balance may feel more reasonable if you’re the kind of person who tends to compartmentalize aspects of your life. For example, you may prefer a distinct separation between work tasks and personal life. Or, maybe your preference is that work friends should remain at work and you’d rather not mingle with them otherwise. If you compartmentalize, you might struggle to think about integrating the two aspects; it might feel more like suffocation.

On the other hand, work/life integration could be a desirable term if you prefer to weave both work and personal duties together. Like making personal calls during work breaks. Or perhaps you enjoy making the introduction of family members to your colleagues during a Zoom call.

There is no right or wrong phrase. You get to choose which one feels most comfortable based on personality and lifestyle. So do not fret if others have a different preference!

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Proactive Steps to Build Relationships and Manage Work Circumstances

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This is a guest blog by Gina Covarrubias

Proactive

Image from Freepik

How can you be more proactive to better manage work circumstances and the people in your day-to-day? Here are three topics to consider, along with tips and exercises, to propel yourself toward a path of successful career management.

Tip 1: Squash the Ego and Increase Likability

Researcher and leadership consultant Cy Wakeman brilliantly describes ego in her book, “No Ego.” She states:

“Ego will coax you to be one up or persuade you to be one down. One up, and you’re convinced you’re right, you’re better than the others, and people should always listen to you. One down, and you’re misunderstood, helpless and a victim of circumstances.”

An effective tool to aid your navigation through the nuances of human nature is to recognize and mitigate your own ego.

Proactive

Ego doesn’t want to consider things like forgiveness, moving on, taking full accountability, or open-mindedness. It wants approval, recognition, and validation. It wants to be right, and it doesn’t consider the costs. Too much ego can hamper the ability to find creative solutions. Worse, self-growth will be hindered, and you may experience people leaving your network.

This is no way to manage a successful career! So, how does one recognize and mitigate ego?

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Breaking Through Common Communication Barriers

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This is a guest blog by Gina Covarrubias

Communication Barriers

Image by kroshka__nastya on Freepik

This article highlights three common communication barriers that might be holding you back. Learn what you can do to break through these barriers and form newfound connections through improved communication!

1. “I’m Afraid to Speak Up”

The work environment can be intimidating, rampant with older, more experienced folks who seem to know what they’re doing.

For those of you afraid to speak your mind or openly make suggestions, consider the following.

Speaking up is not always about being right. Sometimes it can be, but other times, speaking up can be about expressing ideas or unique thoughts that are worthy of being shared in the name of creating an open dialogue.

Communication Barriers

Your ideas and beliefs deserve consideration as a valued member of an organization. In fact, you get paid to share your ideas and perspectives. While silence may feel less risky and more comfortable, you could fail ahead of time by remaining speechless.

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What Is Your Purpose? Three Timeless Pillars to Guide Your Future

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This is a guest blog by Gina Covarrubias

Your PurposeWhether you are a student, professional, forcibly unemployed, or just taking a break, I have great news: each can be approached the same way! Apply these three pillars anytime to maximize your life purpose and guide your future.

Pillar 1: Service

Service is about directing your efforts toward a cause bigger than yourself. It includes carving out time and energy for the sake of serving an external purpose.

It can mean serving your team or organization in the workplace. Maybe it involves supporting your neighbors, your environment, or your country. Applying a service approach to your surroundings is one way to share your unique gifts with the world.

For example, try to answer:

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Three Steps to Make the Most of Your Decisions

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This is a guest blog by Gina Covarrubias

DecisionsWhen it comes to decision-time, do you go all in, or do you spend time waffling and floundering? Learn what you can do to make the most of any decision you make!

1. Commitment vs. Giving Up

Sadly, we sit all too often in a state of doubt, self-defeat, or regret after making a decision. It is so tempting to think, “Oh no, was that the right decision? What if I made the wrong choice, etc.?” The agonies that come along with a what-if mentality can leave your self-esteem lacking and your energy depleted. 

I’d like to offer a more useful three-step approach you can apply when it comes to your decision-making skills. 

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Want to Start Your Own Business? Pay Attention to These 3 Tips!

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This is a guest blog by Gina Covarrubias

Own Business

Tip 1: Do Not Jump on the Bandwagon 

The number of American small business applications has been increasing each year since 2016, according to PR Newswire.  

Heck, you might know a buddy who has started a lucrative side gig as a YouTuber or a TikTok creator. And the temptations might swirl around in your mind: “I should do that … look how much fun they’re having … I want my own business too!“ 

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